Today, man may consider himself far more intelligent, refined, respectable and resourceful than those who lived in the years immediately after the Fall of Adam. However, in his natural state, man (whoever he or she may be) is still a fallen son or daughter of Adam, “dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past,” says the Apostle Paul to the Church at Ephesus, “ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Eph 2:1-3). These statements were true of those who lived before the Flood, after the Flood, at the time of the building of the Tower of Babel, during the intervening centuries, and today, when so many new towers of vanity are being constructed by man that provoke the high and holy God of heaven!
The solemn and godless state of our nation, and indeed of all the countries in the world at present, is evident: this is not new; it is something that causes the godly to mourn in every degenerate generation. Time and again, Christians of all ages have prayerfully sought, in private, as families, and in public, the day when it will please the Lord again to pour forth the Holy Spirit copiously, to revive His work to the glory and praise of His name. Many have spiritually yearned for that wondrous day to dawn when “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14), when “all nations shall call Him blessed” (Ps 72:17).
While the current humanistic and pagan state of the world is not new, the
blatant audacity and widespread extent of man’s rebellion against God – which originated with our federal head Adam, in the Garden of Eden – seems to be increasing in severity, scope and visibility at an alarming rate in our day. In such a time, we need to remember the comforting words of the Lord to His Church and people, so applicable in all generations: “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth”. To this gracious admonition, we are to respond in humble faith, genuine gratitude and longing expectation: “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah” (Ps 46:10,11).
Indeed, we are to be earnestly anticipating the days yet to come, when “all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee” (Ps 22:27). We are to pray, as we are taught by the Lord, “Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:9,10).
We read the solemn statement of inspiration in the Holy Scriptures about the years following the Fall of Adam and the widespread apostasy of those days: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Interestingly, the translators of our Authorised Version of the Bible helpfully added notes to the margin of Genesis 6:5. They evidently believed that the wording they employed was insufficient to convey fully the intensity of the underlying Hebrew text. Thus they included two informative comments in English in the margin to enhance the reader’s understanding of the divine text. Adjacent to the words in the verse, “imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil”, the margin adds, “Or, the whole imagination”. The Hebrew word signifies not only the imagination, but also the purposes and desires”. And against the word “continually”, the margin adds, “Heb. every day”.
The Lord saw that the “wickedness of man was great” and that the fallen posterity of Adam was continuously manifesting every day that their whole imagination, purpose and desires were only evil. How distinctly different this was from the lives of the godly few in that dark age, whose lives had been wondrously transformed by the Spirit of God and whose chief end in life was to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever. Though we read that Enoch and Noah “walked with God”, it could not have been easy for them or any others who feared God and desired to live in the light of His countenance during such evil times.
No doubt, their prayers for grace, wisdom and protection were answered in the Lord’s goodness, and they were enabled to shine as lights amid the darkness and sinful rebellion of the day. It was a day in which the over-
whelming majority rebelliously aligned themselves with the powers of darkness, promoting the very evils that the ungodly judged would be devastatingly triumphant over the despised and diminished Cause of God and truth of the day. They were soon to find that their sinfully optimistic arrogance had been significantly misjudged!
In the following verses of Genesis 6, we read of God’s intent to destroy man, but also of the grace the Lord showed to Noah and his family. “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb 11:7). By the time Noah had finished constructing the ark, the remaining godly of his day had all passed away. God “spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Pet 2:5). Notwithstanding the longsuffering of God extended towards them through the faithful preaching of righteousness by Noah, they continued impenitent and unbelieving in their rebellious and God-dishonouring lives until, finally and most solemnly, as we read, “they did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Lk 17:27).
Were things to be different after the Flood? Alas, no! The wretched evil in the heart of fallen man remains the same in every generation. The wickedness of man was still great. The entire imagination, thoughts, purposes and desires of his heart were still only evil, and that continuously. Only by the powerful and sovereign regenerating grace of God could there ever be a difference.
Comparatively soon after the Flood and following the repopulating of the world by the children of Noah, there were again the godly and the ungodly. Before long, the ungodly gained the ascendancy and formed themselves into nations. These ungodly nations united in rebellion against Almighty God by building in the plain of Shinar what became known as the Tower of Babel. They said, “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen 11:4). However, we read that their purpose was frustrated by the Lord, who confounded their language, so that they could “not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city” (Gen 11:7,8).
Century after century, ungodly men have stood resolutely and wilfully opposed to God and the truth of His Word. Man has not improved over time;
instead, he has worsened, shamelessly flaunting his arrogance and hatred of God – despite his natural awareness of his Creator. “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Rom 1:20,21).
Our day is no different. The ungodly continue to rebel against their Creator and Lord, who is the one and only Saviour of sinners. In their arrogance, they persist in building mighty towers of vanity that are admired by the wicked, but which continuously provoke Almighty God. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure” (Ps 2:4,5).
Notwithstanding the great darkness and the terrible wickedness of the day, the Lord’s people are to flee continuously to their Lord and Master as their Refuge, their Strength, and their very present Help in trouble (see Ps 46:1). “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth” (1 Chr 16:31). DPR
Cyber-Attack on M&S
The retailers M&S (Marks and Spencer) have been hit by a vicious cyber-attack. The hackers first stole customer data and then encrypted it so that M&S could not use it. M&S is losing millions of pounds a day as a result. We are very sorry and concerned about the crime, but we note that the money M&S have made from opening on the Sabbath is taking wings and flying away. DWBS
Hadrian’s Wall and Its Tree
At the time of writing, two men are on trial for cutting down a sycamore tree on Hadrian’s Wall in September 2023. The tree was strikingly situated in a dip between two hillocks and was much filmed and photographed. Weddings had been conducted there, and the pagan scattering of ashes. A BBC report states that “prosecutors said the irreparable damage to the tree had been estimated to be worth £622 191”, while the men are charged with £1144 of damage to Hadrian’s Wall. The present writer is very fond of trees and nature, but the fuss over this tree exceeds all bounds. The death of one aborted child is infinitely sadder, more important, and more wicked than the cutting down of whole forests of such trees. DWBS
The Supreme Court Ruling on Male and Female
On April 16 the UK Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling in the case
of For Women Scotland Limited versus Scottish Ministers, clarifying the legal definitions of man, woman and sex under the Equality Act 2010.
The Court unanimously determined that these terms in the Equality Act refer exclusively to biological sex at birth. This means that, for the purposes of this act, individuals who have “transitioned” and obtained a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) are not to be considered as having that “acquired gender”. The ruling specifically addresses the interpretation of the Equality Act 2010 and does not invalidate the Gender Recognition Act 2004; transgender individuals retain protections against discrimination under the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.
The decision has significant implications for access to single sex spaces. Organisations may now lawfully restrict access to spaces such as women’s shelters, hospital wards, changing rooms and lavatories according to a person’s biological sex. Following the ruling, several sporting bodies have updated their policies to restrict participation in women’s categories to biological females.
Advocacy groups like For Women Scotland and political figures, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, welcomed the decision, viewing it as a reinforcement of women’s rights and giving clarity to the law. Previously some politicians, including the Prime Minister, were completely flummoxed, and seriously embarrassed, when challenged to define a woman and a man. These people are now clamouring to put themselves on the right side of the Supreme Court decision. On the other hand, trans rights organisations and some medical professionals have expressed concern, labelling the ruling as exclusionary. The British Medical Association criticised the decision, calling it “scientifically illiterate” and harmful to transgender individuals, which is an extraordinary comment from an organisation representing the medical profession.
The ruling has intensified discussion around the inclusion of transgender individuals in various sectors, with debates continuing over how to balance the protection of women’s rights and ensuring transgender rights. The Equality and Human Rights Commission is expected to provide further guidance on the practical implications of the ruling in the coming months.
One would hope and pray that we are now seeing a return to common sense, where scriptural truth is placed before “equality, diversity and inclusion”. “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Gen 1:27). FRD